At the Sign of Triumph: Safehold, Book 9

The Church of God Awaiting's triumph over Charis was inevitable. Despite its prosperity, the Charis was a single, small island realm. It boasted less than two percent of the total population of Safehold. How could it possibly resist total destruction? The Church had every reason to be confident of a swift, crushing victory, an object lesson to other rebels.

The Reality Dysfunction: Night's Dawn Trilogy, Book 1

In AD 2600, the human race is finally beginning to realize its full potential. Hundreds of colonized planets scattered across the galaxy host a multitude of prosperous and wildly diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has pushed evolution far beyond nature's boundaries, defeating disease and producing extraordinary spaceborn creatures. Huge fleets of sentient trader starships thrive on the wealth created by the industrialization of entire star systems, and throughout inhabited space the Confederation Navy keeps the peace.

Endeavour: Sleeping Gods, Book 1

In 2118 the first daring mission to another star, Tau Ceti - 12 light-years away - is launched. Tom Hites and Harry Cosgrove command the starship Endeavour on an epic journey to solve the Fermi paradox. From the first nearly disastrous steps on a distant world, their quest takes them further than they ever imagined.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob): Bobiverse, Book 1

Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it's a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street. Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets.

Warship: Black Fleet Trilogy, Book 1

In the 25th century, humans have conquered space. The advent of faster-than-light travel has opened up hundreds of habitable planets for colonization, and humans have exploited the virtually limitless space and resources for hundreds of years with impunity. So complacent have they become with the overabundance that armed conflict is a thing of the past, and their machines of war are obsolete and decrepit. What would happen if they were suddenly threatened by a terrifying new enemy?

Into the Black: Odyssey One

Captain Eric Weston and his crew encounter horrors, wonders, monsters, and people; all of which will test their resolve, challenge their abilities, and put in sharp relief what is necessary to be a hero. A first-rate military-science-fiction epic that combines old-school space opera and modern storytelling, Into the Black: Odyssey One is a riveting, exhilarating adventure with vivid details, rich mythology, and relentless pacing.

Ark Royal

Seventy years ago, the interstellar supercarrier Ark Royal was the pride of the Royal Navy. But now, her weapons are outdated and her solid-state armour nothing more than a burden on her colossal hull. She floats in permanent orbit near Earth, a dumping ground for the officers and crew the Royal Navy wishes to keep out of the public eye. But when a deadly alien threat appears, the modern starships built by humanity are no match for the powerful alien weapons.

Starfire

On June 30, 1908, an object fell from the sky, releasing more energy than a thousand Hiroshima bombs. A Siberian forest was flattened, but the strike left no significant crater. The anomaly came to be known as the Tunguska Event, and scientists have never agreed whether it was the largest meteor strike in recorded history - or something else. Alien artifacts have been uncovered since the 1908 event, and a new star drive is discovered.

Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge

When marine private Oliver Chadwick Gardenier is killed in the marine barrack bombing in Beirut, somebody who might be Saint Peter gives him a choice: Go to heaven, which, while nice, might be a little boring, or return to earth. The Boss has a mission for him, and he's to look for a sign. He's a marine: He'll choose the mission. Unfortunately, the sign he's to look for is "57". Which, given the food services contract in Bethesda Hospital, creates some difficulty. Eventually it appears that God's will is for Chad to join a group called Monster Hunters International.

A Night Without Stars: A Novel of the Commonwealth: Chronicle of the Fallers Series, Book 2

The planet is isolated from the rest of the universe, unable to seek help as it's targeted by hostile aliens. Bienvenido's ruling authorities have slowly responded to this gradual infiltration, but they have no idea that a highly organized invasion is now under way, designed to wipe out all human life on the planet. All factions must work together to survive. Unfortunately, due to prejudice against enhanced Eliter humans and crippling technophobia, the parochial government won't collaborate.

Steel World: Undying Mercenaries, Book 1

In the 20th century Earth sent probes, transmissions, and welcoming messages to the stars. Unfortunately, someone noticed. The Galactics arrived with their battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined their vast Empire. Swearing allegiance to our distant alien overlords wasn't the only requirement for survival. We also had to have something of value to trade, something that neighboring planets would pay their hard-earned credits to buy. As most of the local worlds were too civilized to have a proper army, the only valuable service Earth could provide came in the form of soldiers....

Cold as Ice: Cold as Ice, Book 1

Twenty-five years ago there was a great interplanetary war in the Solar System. It was a suicidal spasm in which terrible weapons were created and used; in which nine billion people were killed. The rivalries that led to the war are not gone. And a few of those deadly weapons remain - some still orbiting the sun in the debris of destroyed ships, some deliberately placed in storage. Now Cyrus Mobarak, the man who perfected the fusion engine, is determined to bring human settlement to the protected seas of Europa. Opposing him is Hilda Brandt, Europa's administrator.

The news that humanity had been dreading for ages had come true. Zombies are real. Worst of all, we created them. The apocalypse was upon us, and every man, woman and child had to answer a simple question of themselves: "What do we do now?"

Terms of Enlistment: Frontlines, Book 1

The year is 2108, and the North American Commonwealth is bursting at the seams. For welfare rats like Andrew Grayson, there are only two ways out of the crime-ridden and filthy welfare tenements, where you’re restricted to 2,000 calories of badly flavored soy every day. You can hope to win the lottery and draw a ticket on a colony ship settling off-world, or you can join the service. With the colony lottery a pipe dream, Andrew chooses to enlist in the armed forces for a shot at real food, a retirement bonus, and maybe a ticket off Earth.

ALICE Resurrection: Alice, Book 3

Colonel Jake Thomas has a mess on his hands. The losses on Klinan have gutted an already short-staffed defense force, and his people are scrambling to prepare for a possible attack, directly on Earth. Combined with the seemingly erratic behavior of Sara, his number-one go-to girl, he is struggling to keep up. Now, with unexplained transmissions originating in Europe, and an Alien visitor with questionable motives, he is awash in new challenges on Earth and in space.

Fallen Dragon

In the distant future, corporations have become sustainable communities with their own militaries, and corporate goals have essentially replaced political ideology. On a youthful, rebellious impulse, Lawrence joined the military of a corporation that he now recognizes to be ruthless and exploitative. His only hope for escape is to earn enough money to buy his place in a better corporation.

The Praxis: Dread Empire's Fall, Book 1

An infinite, sweeping saga of interstellar war - the first SF classic for the 21st century. The empire of the Shaa lasted 10,000 years. Years of terror, infinite violence and oppressive, brutal order. Now the Shaa are no more, but the terror and violence are only beginning... The Shaa, rulers of the universe, began to commit ritual suicide when it became clear that their minds - profoundly intelligent but limited - would accept no further information. Near immortality was their one, great mistake.

Hyperion

On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all.

Crusade: Starfire, Book 1

Spacers call the warp point Charon's Ferry. No star ship has ever entered it and returned since a vengeful Orion task force pursued a doomed Terran colonization fleet into it in 2206. Almost a century has passed. The fiery hatreds of a quarter-century of warfare between the Terran Federation and the Zheeerlikou'valkhannaieeee, the cat-like species humans called the "Orions", have eased at least a little.

Battle Cruiser: Lost Colonies, Book 1

One starship will either save Earth or destroy her. A century ago our star erupted, destroying Earth's wormhole network and closing off trade with her colonized planets. After being out of contact with the younger worlds for so many years, humanity is shocked when a huge ship appears at the edge of the solar system. Our outdated navy investigates, both curious and fearful. What they learn from the massive vessel shocks the planet.

Old Man's War

John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First, he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army. The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce - and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So, we fight, to defend Earth and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.

A Call to Duty: Book I of Manticore Ascendant

Growing up, Travis Uriah Long yearned for order and discipline in his life...he two things his neglectful mother couldn’t or wouldn’t provide. So when Travis enlisted in the Royal Manticoran Navy, he thought he’d finally found the structure he’d always wanted so desperately. But life in the RMN isn’t exactly what he expected. Boot camp is rough and frustrating; his first ship assignment lax and disorderly; and with the Star Kingdom of Manticore still recovering from a devastating plague, the Navy is possibly on the edge of budgetary extinction.

Into the Dark: Alexis Carew, Book 1

At 15, Alexis Carew has to face an age old problem - she's a girl, and only a boy can inherit the family's vast holdings. Her options are few. She must marry and watch a stranger run the lands, or become a penniless tenant and see the lands she so dearly loves sold off. Yet there may be another option, one that involves becoming a midshipman on a shorthanded spaceship with no other females.

Publisher's Summary

It was just before Summertide, the time when the twin planets, Opal and Quake, would orbit closest to their sun, subjecting both - Quake in particular - to vast tidal forces. It was to be the most violent Summertide ever, creating something that only happened every 350,000 years.

Access to the unstable Quake was supposed to be prohibited, but some very insistent travelers were determined to make the trip. Professor Darya Lang, who studied artifacts left by the long-vanished aliens called the Builders, had a hunch that she might find the Builders themselves. Louis Nenda and the Cecropian Atvar H'sial had their own interests in Quake, and would do anything to get there. And Councilor Julius Graves was hunting murderers - if they were hiding on Quake, he would find them.

Planetary Administrators Hans Rebka and Max Perry had no choice but to go to Quake - risking their lives to protect the others - and to learn, just maybe, the secret of Summertide and the Builders.

Fortunately, this is only the first volume of the Heritage Universe series. There are three more. I wanted to listen to this book because it's a classic. And it is well deserved. We are left with enigma of the Others, until the end (will have to read the next book to know more about that) but something does happen -- not unexpectedly -- at the end. While the background and indeed the whole intrigue of the book is tapestried on the Artifacts left by an ancient and disappeared civilization, the whole story is really about these five or six characters that pursue the enigma by being at the right place at the right time, a fact noticed by only the experts or by chance for some. It is a very serious story, there is not much humor in it. It's elaborate, consistent (scientifically and literarily), and has a nice ending point that at once concludes the current story and opens vast possibilities for the next three volumes. However, I wouldn't recommend this book if you're not ready to listen to the next three...

In passing, I should mention another old classic that treats exactly the same theme with slightly different point of view, and is a LOT more fun, in that it's written very wittily and funnily. It's the Heechee saga by Frederik Pohl (Gateway, Beyond the Blue Event Horizon, Hechee Rendez-Vous, and Annals of the Hechee). Now those are books that I would treasure in audio format. If you've enjoyed that one, this Summertide will feel a bit austere and just a bit belabored sometimes. But it's still good science fiction.

Charles Sheffield believed in hard science and even harder science fiction. All of his stories are built on extrapolations from present day science to some future filled with incredible technological magic. Summertide is no different. The story itself will appeal only to those who enjoy technological fantasies, and if you are someone like that, then the mediocre performance of the reader will not trouble you. For all the rest, no matter who performed the work, you would find it wanting.
As for me, I strongly recommend it. When I have the time and the credit, I intend to get all four of these novels on CD (through Audible, of course).

A well crafted story with good characters and an original premise made "Summertide" a great read. This one made the miles go by so painlessly I hate to have to wait for the next segment. Without Audible I'm sure I would have missed this one and I'm very glad that I didn't.

I like Jack Reacher style characters regardless of setting. Put them in outer space, in modern America, in a military setting, on an alien planet... no worries. Book has non moralistic vigilante-justice? Sign me up!
(oh, I read urban fantasy, soft and hard sci-fi, trashy vampire and zombie novels too)

I found this to be a very engaging story. Everyone says it's "hard sci-fi" and I'll go along with that. It has the same sort of tone as Peter F. Hamilton's writings, so if you like his, you'll probably like this series as well - though Summertide is MUCH less long-winded and about half as descriptive as Hamilton's works (and, of course, half the length).

There are a lot of technical descriptions of space-faring ideas/inventions/activities, but none of it gets boring or overly complicated (and if you miss some technical detail, it won't harm your understanding of the story at all). I found that the characters were diverse and interesting. Are they as well-developed as they would be in a soap/space-opera book, no, of course not, but you can tell the difference between the main characters; and the motivations behind their behaviors are adequately differentiated.

There is a big chunk of mystery/suspense in here... like who are the Builders, what is going on at Summertide, who are the bad/good guys, what will happen to the "slaves", etc. I thought this added a nice dimension to the story.

I guess you could say the story in this book is wrapped up at the end, but you will likely have to continue reading the series as there are several "loose ends" left dangling. It's not a cliff-hanger ending, but isn't fully resolved either.

I didn't mind the narrator at all. There is no graphic violence and no sex or swearing. I have bought the rest of the series on Audible.

I really liked this one. Style and story done a lot like Peter F. Hamilton's Pandora's Star, one of mny favorites. Good characters, especially the aliens!! Can't wait to download the next in the series!

I liked everything about this book, the story is good, the author really knows his science, the reader was good - he gave everybody their own voice, and the pace is great - I never got bored while reading it. It is one of the very best books that I have read on on Audible. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

I've read this author's stuff before and enjoyed it, but this is just an awful mismash of sci-fi cliches. Flat characters, despite any potential they might have had, stilted writing made worse by the narrator's delivery and manufactured drama that's not at all dramatic. Plus, lots of odd quirks, like the fact that the characters are almost always referred to by both their first and last names (trust me, it gets annoying quick). The characters, although they're supposed to be experts in various endeavors, generally act in mind-bogglingly stupid ways. The same events presented from the viewpoints of two different characters are often different. Not just different viewpoints, but they differ in the details. And no one talks like the characters do. Not in real life. Not ever. Contrived, dull, and ocassionally even painful to listen to (especially the narrator's interpretation of one of the alien characters as sounding like an obsequious stereotype of a chinese immigrant). Take a pass.

If you like to read technical reports and scientific articles, you may like this book. However, if you like to read about characters and human emotions set within a scientific fictional future, you will not like this book. The charaters are portrayed as dichotomous (either/or) variables that respond to an environment that constantly needs to be analyzed. Sheffield tries to make his characterizations central, but fails and the reader is left instead feeling quite detached. To further the insult of this book, the narrator (G. Howard) seems to feel the same way. He reads as if he is cramming for a freshman's final exam--in Latin no less. Pass on this one.

This is one of my favorites in the collection of books that are done as a series.

There as far as I know 4 books to this series.

They all kept me engaged.

And it's the type of sci-fi that I truly like.

At 60 years old with the heart of a kid. Today, I decided to actually post some reviews for the very first time. I have been using Audible for many years now. Maybe if you like my selections that means your into the same books as I am into and I will read your selections if that's possible now, to share someone else's book list?